RED WING, Minn. - Near the muddy banks of Hay Creek, a popular trout stream, are significant bluffs covered with a hardwood forest of oak, bass wood and black cherry trees. Underneath the forested ...

Frac sand destined for the oil and gas fields piles up at the EOG Resources Inc. processing plant in Chippewa Falls, Wisc. CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. — Largely overlooked in the national debate over ...

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is allowing more frac sand mines to open even though it let its environmental regulations on the industry expire nine months ago because the rules didn’t ...

To extract the sand, mining companies use explosives to blast loose sediments and then use heavy excavation and water treatment equipment to extract and process the sand. Once ready for shipping, ...

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (AP) – The rolling hills and scenic bluffs of western Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota hide a valuable resource that has sparked what’s been called a modern-day gold rush. The ...

Everyone here is engulfed in mining. It’s a huge workload for us.” Frac sand fever has hit much of west-central Wisconsin, catching residents and local governments by surprise. Permit applications ...

Professor Kent Syverson’s column supporting frac sand mining, which appeared in this newspaper last Sunday, raises a number of important issues, the least of which is whether we agree with him or not.

Opponents recently succeeded in blocking a permit for a frac sand processing plant next door to the Cochrane-Fountain City School, a K-12 school in Buffalo County. And opposition to frac sand mining ...